Stem End Rot: Lasiodiplodia theobromae
Symptoms
- In fruits, the pericarp darkens near the base of the pedicel.
- The affected area enlarges to form a circular, black patch which under humid atmosphere extends rapidly and turns the whole fruit completely black within two or three days.
- The pulp becomes brown and softer.
Management
- Avoid harvesting immature fruit. Postharvest treatment with hot water and carbendazim (Spin Flo) is partially effective against stem end rot.
- For control of stem end rot during controlled atmosphere storage, a dual treatment of hot carbendazim (Spin Flo) followed by prochloraz is necessary.
- Fruit from orchards with a history of stem end rot losses should be rejected for long term storage. The severity of stem end rot can be assessed as follows.
- Harvest 100 mature fruit at random from throughout the orchard.
- Leave them untreated and store at 25° until they are fully ripe. Ideally, less than one-tenth and certainly no more than one-third of the fruit should develop symptoms of stem end rot by the time they are fully ripe.
Image Source:
S Iram and HMI Ahmad. Major Post Harvest Disease of Mango and their Management. 2013. Intl. J. Agron. Plant. Prod. 4 (12), pp: 3470-3484.
| Darken pericarp | Circular black patch | severe infection | Infected fruits |